What's in a name? Enough to lodge a class-action lawsuit if it's the name of a seafood burrito at Rubio's Fresh
Mexican Grill. The popular fresh Mexican restaurant settled the suit a few weeks ago by offering class members and
other customers a one-time coupon worth $3 off a $10 purchase at any of Rubio's restaurants in California.Disgruntled customer Lisa Marie Meier filed the suit against Rubio's last June, alleging that the restaurant's "langostino lobster burrito" was nothing more than a "langostino burrito." I'm not quite sure if she was looking to find a burrito chock full of lobster given that Rubio's prices top out at about $7.
I must confess that I've never really known what a langostino is. I've heard that it's Spanish for prawn. The plot thickens, however, it seems that in the restaurant biz langostino is used when dishes include the meat of the squat lobster, which is not a lobster, but a cousin of the hermit crab. Either way I gotta say "squat lobster burrito," would be a terrible name.
5-02-2006 @1:22AM Marcos Colmenares H said... langostino
lahn-goh-STEEN-oh
The Spanish word for PRAWN
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5-02-2006 @1:34AM Berkana said... I was pretty upset when I ate at Rubios, paid the higher price for their "Lobster Burrito", and found it not to be lobster, but a formerly-live-bait burrito. I think they used crayfish or something.
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5-02-2006 @9:04AM mella said... When I've had dishes made with langostino, they did seem to be small, crawfish-like creatures. They definitely resembled miniaturized lobsters more than any kind of prawn I've ever seen. This has my curiousity working. I've got a friend who sells fish and seafood, so maybe she can help me out.
Also, if they are serving nothing more than prawn, shouldn't they have called it camarones? That's the word I found used most commonly in Southern California. It at least would have saved the confusion.
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5-02-2006 @9:23AM mella said... OK, these tasty little guys are actually their own animal, namely the squat lobster. Wouldn't look too great on menus, would it? I found the info on what species can legally be sold as langostino at the FDA, but here the info is much easier to find : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/langostino
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5-02-2006 @9:31AM mella said... OK, it turns out these tasty little guys are a whole different creature. Namely the squat lobster. Probably not the kind of thing that would tempt you on the menu.
I checked out the FDA, and found that only certain species can legally be sold as langostinos. The info is easier to find here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langostino
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5-02-2006 @12:17PM mella said... So sorry about the double post. Came back from lunch and forgot I had already posted it.
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5-09-2006 @9:29AM Anna said... I love Rubios. It's not some fancy restaurant by any means, but has great food. Sounds like this woman had too much time on her hands. If you didn't like it, get a refund, and go somewhere else. Get your facts straight too. I don't think Rubios had to offer anything to anybody. They provide us with a service, and we have the right to go there or choose someplace else. These kinds of petty lawsuits are a waste of time and money, and I think are nothing more than one peson trying to strike it rich at the hands of someone who has worked hard to earn where they are today. That woman should be sued for wasting everybodies time. Is that legal?? ha ha ha
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5-09-2006 @12:45PM mella said... As a matter of fact, in some states you can be charged with frivolous litigation. I'm not sure what the penalty is if convicted, but I believe it includes reimbursement of court fees at the very least.
While I agree that this suit was a waste of time and money, she appears to have a legitimate case. You say that Rubio's doesn't have to offer anything, and that they were doing her a favor by providing their service. The truth is that they do indeed have to offer accurate information about their product. Ford doesn't have to give me anything, but if they tell me they are selling me a Mustang and charging me that price, I had better not end up with an Escort!
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